Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction ranks fifth among 10 Colorado institutions evaluated in an annual comparison taking into account tuition, scholarships and other factors.

SmartAsset, a financial technology company that offers advice on personal finance decisions, released the results of its ninth annual Best Value Colleges study.

The study compared universities and colleges across the United States, compiling an overall score based on five factors: tuition, student living costs, scholarship and grant offerings, student retention rate and starting salaries for new graduates.

Tuition and living costs — including room and board, books and personal expenses — were used to assess the cost of attending schools. The study took into account the amount of financing backing institutions offered on a per-student basis, retention rates and the median starting salaries of graduates to asses return on investment.

According to the results of the study, CMU ranked fifth among 10 Colorado institutions with a college education value index score of 48.42.

CMU had a tuition of $10,180, with $18,308 in student living costs and an average offering of $7,208 in scholarships and grants. CMU had a student retention rate of 72 percent. CMU grads earned a median starting salary of $51,800.

The CMU tuition was second lowest among the 10 institutions behind only the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. But the average offering of scholarships and grants was lowest.

The Colorado School of Mines in Golden ranked first among the Colorado institutions evaluated in the study with a score of 87.94. Mines grads earned the highest median starting salary of $79,300. Mines had the second highest student retention rate at 91 percent.

Colorado State University in Fort Collins ranked second overall, followed by the University of Colorado at Boulder and Colorado College in Colorado Springs.

Regis University in Denver and the University of Denver ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, followed by the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and Colorado Christian University based in Lakewood.

Colorado College charged the highest tuition at $65,455, but also had the highest average offering of scholarships and grants at $43,688. Colorado College also posted the highest student retention rate at 96 percent.

Student living costs were deemed highest at the University of Colorado at Boulder at $21,844. Living costs were deemed lowest at Colorado Christian College at $16,118.